Thursday, July 3, 2014

First "me" time since MIMS

I've done several 500 yard swims the past week, which is enough time to send the boys to the shower after a good swim lesson with them. But today Jacob came along which was nice cause I had him focus on helping give tips to Isaac and Jonas while I worked with Sam and Oliver. They're coming along real nice and they're making some good progress.

Jacob took them all home and I was able to stay after with Cathi and swim 1800 yards. Cathi swims during the lesson as well and she is up to over a mile per session as well. Then she runs home. I told her she might as well ride her bike there and she'd be training for a triathlon.

Last night I stayed up till midnight watching Kimberly Chambers spot tracker. She swam the Tsugaru Channel! Cool thing is she said the water was relatively calmer than what she was warned against and it was a wonderful swim. That's encouraging. I would absolutely LOVE to sell this swim to Cathi. I'd love to do this one. But it would be comparable to English Channel in terms of cost, and that is almost the hardest part (saving that amount of money when you've got 7 kids and they all have their own individual activities that can be very expensive).

However I just got a raise at work. I've been there for 16 years and they're taking very good care of me. Anyway, one step at a time. Next big swim for me is 2016 with a Gibraltar crossing. Perhaps I could convince Cathi of taking a trip to Japan in 2017? I'd have to see if I could also convince a fellow GSL swimmer I know, Etsuko, to come along as my interpreter and crew member. That would be awesome.

Oh to dream...

Total swam since last logging: 3,350 yards I know, pretty pathetic, and I feel pretty guilty about slacking, but it'll feel great once my kids are able to swim on a team and really excel.

If you live in Utah and plan a marathon swim in the ocean, the best place to train is NOT in the pool! Not even in a freshwater reservoir. The best place to train for those conditions is in the Great Salt Lake! This precious resource needs protection and understanding. Learn more about the lake and don't be another "ignernt" local.

My Preferred Swim Safety Devices

Unlike when you train in a pool, when you train in open water you don't have a lifeguard there watching you and making sure you're safe.

With open water, there are potentially even more hazards than when swimming in a pool. That is why it is very important to consider a safety device.

The things I look for in a safety device (in addition to whether it can actually keep me afloat in an emergency) are:

Visibility - does the item provide greater visibility for boats and stands out enough to be easily seen from shore.

Waterproof storage and ability to stow fuels - For those long swims I like the ability to get access to a drink or a solid. Also would be nice to stow GPS/phone for distance tracking and emergency phone calls if necessary.

Lack of drag - If it has a serious amount of drag I will not want to train with it.

With those primary objectives there are three safety devices that I support in this order:

Safer Swimmer Device (SSD) - This is the more affordable option but is weaker than the Swimmer Buddy in the accessibility to fuels area, and has slightly more drag than the Swimmer Buddy, but still a very good choice.

Swim Safe - It is designed primarily to be used as a device to be deployed using a CO2 cartridge if you run into trouble. But can be blown up like the SSD and pulled behind you. It has very little drag, but lack any storage abilities.